Strays
by angellwings
Summary: For a tumblr prompt challenge. Prompt: A stray kitten shows up at Mason's warehouse and Wyatt is quite taken with it.


Lucy was sitting outside at one of the picnic tables on the Mason Industries campus. She'd been going through Ethan's evidence by hand since her mother revealed she was Rittenhouse. She was convinced Mason's software had missed something. She just didn't know what. She was tired of being cooped up in a conference room but she was far from giving up her research. So a change of scenery it was.

She looked up with a tired sigh and rubbed her eyes. This was going to take forever. She shut the book and decided to take a break, her eyes landed on Wyatt leaving the warehouse for the day. How could one man look so damn attractive? The worst part was, it didn't even looked like he _tried_ to be appealing. He just was. It was just a natural part of his existence.

He didn't see her and why would he? She never came out here.

Her brow furrowed when she noticed Wyatt crouch next to a bush against the side of the building. What was he doing? He reached into the bush and then stood up. He turned so she could see the front of him and smiled affectionately. Even from a distance she could tell what the little bundle cradled to his chest actually was.

Wyatt had found a kitten. Broody, grumpy, hotheaded Wyatt was currently holding a tiny little kitten to his chest and stroking it softly. If he knew she was watching he would be totally humiliated.

So naturally she immediately gathered her research and marched over to him.

"What do you have there, soldier?" She asked once she was close enough for him to hear her.

He tensed and then grimaced before daring to meet her eyes. "Where the hell did you come from?"

She laughed softly for a moment before answering him by pointing to the picnic tables behind her.

"Of course, today of all days, you decide you actually enjoy nature," Wyatt told her with a smirk.

"Lucky for me," Lucy told him with a grin. "Did you find yourself a little friend?" She stepped even closer and gently stroked the kitten's head. It was a tiny thing with matted fur and tired eyes. She'd never related to an animal more. Homeless, alone, and beaten.

Wyatt seemed to sense a shift in her mood. "Hey," he said as he settled an intense gaze on her. "You okay?"

She let out a breath she didn't know she was holding and shook herself out of her thoughts. "It's nothing, just...sudden dark thoughts. That happens sometimes."

"What kind of thoughts?" Wyatt asked in concern.

She could tell he was trying to gauge just how _dark_ she'd been thinking. She shrugged and smiled sadly at him. "Nothing too dark, honestly." She scratched behind the kitten's ears and then gave the kitten an affectionate glance. "Just thinking this little furball and I have a lot in common. We're both strays."

"Lucy," Wyatt said as he used his free hand to grab a hold of one of hers. "You're not. You're not a stray. I'm not even sure what you really mean by that, but whatever the hell it is...that's not you."

She met his eyes with a half hearted smile that told him she wasn't convinced. "So, what are you going to do with this cutie?" She asked as she petted it. The kitten leaned into Lucy's hand and, honestly, Wyatt couldn't blame it. He was still holding her hand, after all. Though, neither of them had said anything about it.

"I hadn't really thought about it," Wyatt said as he studied the little white kitten that was in dire need of a bath. "I think a visit to a vet is in order though. I'm not really a cat person but even I can tell this bundle of fur is in need of a little TLC."

"You could take it to a shelter," Lucy suggested hesitantly. "They'll take care of it and find it a good home." She knew how that felt too, oddly enough. Agent Christopher had moved Lucy into a safehouse for her own protection until a suitable apartment could be found. An apartment which had to approved by Agent Christopher herself because it needed to be 'defendable'. It was a truly insane world if one of the top concerns for her apartment is that it's easy to defend.

Wyatt was studying Lucy carefully as she gazed adoringly at the kitten. He could see the same dark look from earlier and he felt the ache of it in his chest. The idea that she saw herself as a stray bothered him more than he really thought it should. He knew this was just about a kitten but in this moment it felt like it was about so much more to her.

Maybe that's why he shrugged and said, "Nah, I think I'll keep it."

Lucy's head jerked up from the kitten to him with a bright smile. A real true smile. Wyatt was pretty sure he'd stopped breathing for a moment. "Really? But you just said you're not a cat person?"

"I guess you never really know till you try," Wyatt told her. "Besides, it's claws are pretty much permanently attached to my shirt at this point." To prove his statement he took his hand off the kitten and it stayed there, holding its own. Clinging to him for dear life.

Lucy laughed and he couldn't believe he'd heard it a second time in one conversation. Her laugh was very rare lately. He wanted to he hear it more. _Needed_ to hear it more.

"Well," Lucy said as she grinned softly at him. "I'm glad to see it's found someone to care for it like it deserves."

He brought one hand back to the kitten and realized his other hand was still in Lucy's. It felt so natural to have her hand in his. He adjusted their hands and laced their fingers together before giving her hand a squeeze, beckoning her to meet his eyes. She did. He hadn't missed the double meaning in her words and he knew her mother's betrayal had hit her hard. He used his hold on her hand to tug her closer until she was standing merely inches form him.

"You're not alone in all this, Lucy," Wyatt promised. "I know it might feel like you are, but I need you to know how far that feeling is from the actual truth."

He watched the darkness in her eyes fade away. It was replaced with something he couldn't quite read which was rare for him. Lucy was practically transparent to him most of the time. But this look had too much involved for him to accurately tell what it was. He saw hope, longing, sadness, affection, and then something else. Something much deeper. But it all played across her features so quickly that he couldn't tell what the prominent feeling was. Finally she smiled bashfully at him and blushed.

"Well, I guess that's another thing I have in common with your little kitten friend, then," she said. "We're both lucky to have one particular reckless hothead looking out for us. Aren't we?"

"Or," he offered as he focused a small warm smile on her. "Maybe _I'm_ lucky to have something- _someone_ -to care about." The " _it's been a while"_ portion of that statement went unsaid but it didn't need to be said. She knew what he meant. "So, since I've got to take Whiskers here to the vet," Wyatt said as he glanced pointedly down at the kitten. "Why don't you come with me?" She looked like she might protest so he continued. "I mean I don't know a damn thing about cats and I'd feel a lot better if I had a little help."

She laughed softly at his pathetic excuse to spend time with her but nodded anyway. "Well, when you put it that way how can I refuse? Poor thing's been through enough already."


End file.
